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Most Drugs Are Still Safe To Use Years After Their Expiration Date : Shots - Health News : NPR
The manufacturer sets medication expiration dates, and they do not always mean that the medication stops working after that date. Some medications can be harmful or cause health risks if taken after their expiration date. Storing your medications as instructed on their labels can help them keep their potency until their expiration date.
There are a few different ways you can dispose of expired prescriptions and over-the-counter items, depending on what they are. The safest way is to bring your medications to a drug take-back location.
When was the last time you looked through your medicine cabinet for expired medications? So what do you do with these expired medications? Sincethe FDA has regulated the expiration dating of medications to improve medication safety. Manufacturers often set an initial expiration date, which can be updated or extended after long-term testing of the medication has been conducted. Despite these efforts for safe medication use, some people believe that taking medications after their expiration date can still be effective or help save them money.
While there may be some truth about medications still working after their printed expiration date, the FDA clearly states that consumers should not use expired medications because of potential risks. As a general rule, solid medications like tablets are more stable than liquids after their expiration date has passed. But this does not mean that you should take any medications after their expiration date. When your healthcare provider sends in a prescription to your pharmacy, you usually have up to one year to fill the prescription before it expires in most states.
The exception to this is prescriptions for controlled substances, which may not be valid after 6 months or less, depending on state laws. If you try to fill a prescription that has expired, your pharmacy will tell you that you will need a new prescription from your provider to fill the medication. They can often request a new prescription from your provider on your behalf, especially for routine medications. Prescription expiration dates are based on state and federal laws and are different from manufacturer expiration dates, which reflect how long a medication is guaranteed to be safe and effective.
Sometimes, the medication inside your prescription vial may still be good after the prescription is no longer valid to refill. Ask your pharmacist where on your prescription label the manufacturer expiration date is, so you can be sure it is safe to keep taking it.
Currently, only the antibiotic tetracycline is known to be harmful when expired. In several reported cases, expired tetracycline has caused Fanconi syndromea rare form of kidney damage that can lead to severe dehydration. For this reason, you should never take expired tetracycline. This problem has not been seen with other medications in the same class as tetracycline, such as doxycycline or minocycline. Examples of these medications are nitroglycerininsulin, EpiPensantibiotics, and birth control.
There are no studies that show using these medications after their expiration date causes serious harm. The risk is related to how effective the medication is. Taking them after their expiration dates could cause a serious health risk or consequence because the medications are not as effective. Examples of medications you should always take within the expiration date:. Commonly used OTC medications that treat aches and pains or allergies are not likely to harm you if used past the expiration date.
OTC medications such as ibuprofen Advil, Motrinpseudoephedrine Sudafedacetaminophen Tylenoldiphenhydramine Benadryland loratadine Claritinas well as topical creams or ointments may not have serious health risks if taken after the expiration date. But they may not work as well — or at all — to alleviate your symptoms.
In some instances, people use OTC medications to treat chronic conditions. For example, aspirin can be used daily to prevent heart problems and may not work properly after its expiration date has passed.
Taking expired aspirin could raise your risk of serious health issues, such as a stroke. Heat and moisture are the biggest factors that affect the breakdown of medications.
Both prescription and OTC medications should be stored in a cool, dry location such as a kitchen cabinet, dresser drawer, closet shelf, or storage box unless otherwise instructed on the labeling. This will help your medications remain safe and effective up until their expiration date. You should avoid storing your medications in a damp bathroom cabinet because they could break down faster than usual in the high-moisture, high-temperature environment.
If a potential storage location is near a hot appliance, like an oven, it may be best to find a new spot farther away from heat sources. Medications stored in common areas of your home living room, kitchen should be secured so they are not easily accessible, especially if you have children or pets. For example, some oral liquid antibiotics and insulins may need to be stored in the refrigerator.
If you do have expired medication, there are several ways you can dispose of it. If you still have the label information that came with the medication, you can look for specific instructions the manufacturer may have provided about how to dispose of it safely.
However, not all medications have this information included. According to the FDAdisposing of your medications at a drug take-back location is the safest way to get rid of old medications. Many health systems, police departments, and community pharmacies offer unused medication drop boxes where you can simply place any medications to be disposed of in the bin.
These take-back days typically happen at the end of April and October. You can search for a year-round medication disposal location near you on the DEA website. To dispose of medications in the trash, the FDA recommends mixing them with an undesirable substance like kitty litter, dirt, or used coffee grounds, sealing the mixture in a bag, and throwing the sealed bag in the trash.
Do not crush tablets or open capsules before mixing them with the dirt, kitty litter, or other substance. The FDA has a list of medications that you should flush down the drain rather than dispose of in the trash. These are often medications that have high abuse potential or can result in death if one dose is accidentally taken. Be sure to check the FDA flush list before disposing of your medications at home. While some people may be concerned about the environmental impact of flushing medications, the FDA found the impact was insignificant after an investigation.
They also believe that accidental exposure of these medications to humans carries a much greater risk than potential harm to the environment from flushing them. While some products may still be effective for a year or more after their expiration date, there is no sure way to know if expired medications in your cabinets at home are still working properly.
You should always speak with your healthcare provider before taking an expired medication. Storing medications as recommended on the label and disposing of expired items properly are essential for ensuring medication safety in your home. This information is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
GoodRx is not offering advice, recommending or endorsing any specific prescription drug, pharmacy or other information on the site.
GoodRx provides no warranty for any information. Please seek medical advice before starting, changing or terminating any medical treatment. GoodRx works to make its website accessible to all, including those with disabilities. If you are having difficulty accessing this website, please call or email us at or ada goodrx.
Health Conditions. Key takeaways: The manufacturer sets medication expiration dates, and they do not always mean that the medication stops working after that date. Breaks down quickly and could fail to stop a heart attack. Insulin Diabetes Breaks down quickly after the expiration date, making it less effective.
Using after its date can cause high blood sugar levels. EpiPen Life-threatening allergic reactions closing of the throat and airways Breaks down quickly after the expiration date and may not work to stop allergic reactions. Oral liquid antibiotics Bacterial infections Can become contaminated with bacteria after their expiration date. Could make you sicker and may fail to treat your existing infection.
Eye drops Various eye conditions and illnesses Can become contaminated with bacteria and lead to eye infections, such as pink eye conjunctivitis. Birth control Pregnancy prevention, monthly bleeding regulation, acne, and other hormone-related conditions Not as effective after the expiration date.
Lower effectiveness could lead to unwanted pregnancies, breakthrough bleeding, and spotting. Was this page helpful? Subscribe and save. Get prescription saving tips and more from GoodRx Health. Enter your email to sign up. Email address. Related Articles. See more about Medication Education. Written by Joshua Murdock, PharmD. Lucentis vs. Written by Nicole E.
Written by Christina Palmer, MD. Humalog vs. Written by Cheyenne Buckingham, BS. View more. Download the GoodRx App now! Let us text you a link to download our free Android or iPhone app! By providing your email address, you agree to receive emails containing coupons, refill reminders and promotional messages from GoodRx. You can unsubscribe at any time. Learn more about Provider Mode. Breaks down quickly after the expiration date, making it less effective. Can become contaminated with bacteria after their expiration date.
Can become contaminated with bacteria and lead to eye infections, such as pink eye conjunctivitis. Not as effective after the expiration date.
❿Is It Safe to Take Medications Past Their Expiration Date? - GoodRx
- Prednisone does it expire
But this does not mean that you should take any medications after their expiration date. When your healthcare provider sends in a prescription to your pharmacy, you usually have up to one year to fill the prescription before it expires in most states.
The exception to this is prescriptions for controlled substances, which may not be valid after 6 months or less, depending on state laws. If you try to fill a prescription that has expired, your pharmacy will tell you that you will need a new prescription from your provider to fill the medication. They can often request a new prescription from your provider on your behalf, especially for routine medications.
Prescription expiration dates are based on state and federal laws and are different from manufacturer expiration dates, which reflect how long a medication is guaranteed to be safe and effective. Sometimes, the medication inside your prescription vial may still be good after the prescription is no longer valid to refill. Ask your pharmacist where on your prescription label the manufacturer expiration date is, so you can be sure it is safe to keep taking it.
Currently, only the antibiotic tetracycline is known to be harmful when expired. In several reported cases, expired tetracycline has caused Fanconi syndrome , a rare form of kidney damage that can lead to severe dehydration.
For this reason, you should never take expired tetracycline. This problem has not been seen with other medications in the same class as tetracycline, such as doxycycline or minocycline. Examples of these medications are nitroglycerin , insulin, EpiPens , antibiotics, and birth control. There are no studies that show using these medications after their expiration date causes serious harm.
The risk is related to how effective the medication is. Taking them after their expiration dates could cause a serious health risk or consequence because the medications are not as effective. Examples of medications you should always take within the expiration date:. Commonly used OTC medications that treat aches and pains or allergies are not likely to harm you if used past the expiration date.
OTC medications such as ibuprofen Advil, Motrin , pseudoephedrine Sudafed , acetaminophen Tylenol , diphenhydramine Benadryl , and loratadine Claritin , as well as topical creams or ointments may not have serious health risks if taken after the expiration date. But they may not work as well — or at all — to alleviate your symptoms. In some instances, people use OTC medications to treat chronic conditions.
For example, aspirin can be used daily to prevent heart problems and may not work properly after its expiration date has passed. Taking expired aspirin could raise your risk of serious health issues, such as a stroke.
Heat and moisture are the biggest factors that affect the breakdown of medications. If left in a car in hot summers in Arizona, California or other hot spots, some drugs could degrade more quickly, she noted. By Carolyn Crist 5 Min Read. While you are being treated with prednisone, do not have any immunizations vaccines without your doctor's approval. Prednisone may lower your body's resistance and the vaccine may not work as well or you might get the infection the vaccine is meant to prevent.
In addition, you should not be around other persons living in your household who receive live virus vaccines because there is a chance they could pass the virus on to you. Some examples of live vaccines include measles, mumps, influenza nasal flu vaccine , poliovirus oral form , rotavirus, and rubella. Do not get close to them and do not stay in the same room with them for very long. If you have questions about this, talk to your doctor.
This medicine may cause changes in mood or behavior for some patients. Tell your doctor right away if you have depression, mood swings, a false or unusual sense of well-being, trouble with sleeping, or personality changes while taking this medicine. This medicine might cause thinning of the bones osteoporosis or slow growth in children if used for a long time.
Tell your doctor if you have any bone pain or if you have an increased risk for osteoporosis. If your child is using this medicine, tell the doctor if you think your child is not growing properly. Make sure any doctor or dentist who treats you knows that you are using this medicine.
This medicine may affect the results of certain skin tests. Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription over-the-counter [OTC] medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements. Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.
Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:.
Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. All rights reserved. Since they are not required to check beyond it, most don't, largely because regulations make it expensive and time-consuming for manufacturers to extend expiration dates, says Yan Wu, an analytical chemist who is part of a focus group at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists that looks at the long-term stability of drugs.
Most companies, she said, would rather sell new drugs and develop additional products. Pharmacists and researchers say there is no economic "win" for drug companies to investigate further. They ring up more sales when medications are tossed as "expired" by hospitals, retail pharmacies and consumers despite retaining their safety and effectiveness. Industry officials say patient safety is their highest priority. Olivia Shopshear, director of science and regulatory advocacy for the drug industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, says expiration dates are chosen "based on the period of time when any given lot will maintain its identity, potency and purity, which translates into safety for the patient.
That being said, it's an open secret among medical professionals that many drugs maintain their ability to combat ailments well after their labels say they don't.
One pharmacist says he sometimes takes home expired over-the-counter medicine from his pharmacy so he and his family can use it. The federal agencies that stockpile drugs — including the military, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U. Department of Veterans Affairs — have long realized the savings in revisiting expiration dates. In , the Air Force, hoping to save on replacement costs, asked the FDA if certain drugs' expiration dates could be extended.
Each year, drugs from the stockpiles are selected based on their value and pending expiration, and analyzed in batches to determine whether their end dates could be safely extended.
For several decades, the program has found that the actual shelf life of many drugs is well beyond the original expiration dates. A study of drugs tested by the program showed that two-thirds of the expired medications were stable every time a lot was tested. Each of them had their expiration dates extended, on average, by more than four years, according to research published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Some that failed to hold their potency include the common asthma inhalant albuterol, the topical rash spray diphenhydramine, and a local anesthetic made from lidocaine and epinephrine, the study said. But neither Cantrell nor Dr. Cathleen Clancy, associate medical director of National Capital Poison Center, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the George Washington University Medical Center, had heard of anyone being harmed by any expired drugs.
Cantrell says there has been no recorded instance of such harm in medical literature. Marc Young, a pharmacist who helped run the extension program from to , says it has had a "ridiculous" return on investment. Hussain is now president of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, an organization of 17 universities working to reduce the cost of pharmaceutical development. He says the high price of drugs and shortages make it time to re-examine drug expiration dates in the commercial market.
The pharmacy at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Some medical providers have pushed for a changed approach to drug expiration dates — with no success. In , the American Medical Association, foretelling the current prescription drug crisis, adopted a resolution urging action. The shelf life of many drugs, it wrote, seems to be "considerably longer" than their expiration dates, leading to "unnecessary waste, higher pharmaceutical costs, and possibly reduced access to necessary drugs for some patients.
Pharmacopeial Convention, which sets standards for drugs, and PhRMA asking for a re-examination of expiration dates. I think there's considerable waste. On a recent weekday, Berkowitz sorted through bins and boxes of medication in a back hallway of the hospital's pharmacy, peering at expiration dates. As the pharmacy's assistant director, he carefully manages how the facility orders and dispenses drugs to patients. Running a pharmacy is like working in a restaurant because everything is perishable, he says, "but without the free food.
David Berkowitz, assistant director of clinical pharmacy at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, says that the hospital has to throw out many drugs that are probably safe to use. Federal and state laws prohibit pharmacists from dispensing expired drugs, and The Joint Commission, which accredits thousands of health care organizations, requires facilities to remove expired medication from their supply.
Lee Cantrell, an associate professor of clinical pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, with a collection of vintage expired medications. Sandy Huffaker for ProPublica hide caption. The box of prescription drugs had been forgotten in a back closet of a retail pharmacy for so long that some of the pills predated the moon landing.
Most were 30 to 40 years past their expiration dates — possibly toxic, probably worthless. But to Lee Cantrell, who helps run the California Poison Control System, the cache was an opportunity to answer an enduring question about the actual shelf life of drugs: Could these drugs from the bell-bottom era still be potent? Cantrell called Roy Gerona, a University of California, San Francisco researcher who specializes in analyzing chemicals.
Gerona grew up in the Philippines and had seen people recover from sickness by taking expired drugs with no apparent ill effects.
The age of the drugs might have been bizarre, but the question the researchers wanted to answer wasn't. Pharmacies across the country in major medical centers and in neighborhood strip malls routinely toss out tons of scarce and potentially valuable prescription drugs when they hit their expiration dates.
Gerona, a pharmacist; and Cantrell, a toxicologist, knew that the term "expiration date" was a misnomer. The dates on drug labels are simply the point up to which the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical companies guarantee their effectiveness, typically at two or three years. But the dates don't necessarily mean they're ineffective immediately after they "expire" — just that there's no incentive for drugmakers to study whether they could still be usable.
ProPublica has been researching why the U. One answer, broadly, is waste — some of it buried in practices that the medical establishment and the rest of us take for granted. We've documented how hospitals often discard pricey new supplieshow nursing homes trash valuable medications after patients die or move out, and how drug companies create expensive combinations of cheap drugs. What if the system is destroying drugs that are technically "expired" but could still be safely used?
In his lab, Gerona ran tests on the decades-old drugs, including some now defunct brands such as the diet pills Obocell once pitched to doctors with a portly figurine called "Mr. Obocell" and Bamadex. Overall, the bottles contained 14 different compounds, including antihistamines, pain relievers and stimulants.
All the drugs tested were in their original sealed containers. The findings surprised both researchers: A dozen of the 14 compounds were still as potent as they were when they were manufactured, some at almost percent of their labeled concentrations.
Cantrell and Gerona knew their findings had big implications. Perhaps no area of health care has provoked as much anger in recent years as prescription drugs.
The news media are rife with stories of medications priced out of reach or of shortages of crucial drugs, sometimes because producing them is no longer profitable. Tossing such drugs when they expire is doubly hard. And that doesn't include the costs of expired drugs at long-term-care and retail pharmacies and in consumer medicine cabinets. Pharmacist Candy Tin checks dates and lot numbers with pharmacy technician Nikki Wong to pull expired medications at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
Erik Jacobs for ProPublica hide caption. After Cantrell and Gerona published their findings in Archives of Internal Medicine insome readers accused them of being irresponsible and advising patients that it was OK to take expired drugs.
Cantrell says they weren't recommending the use of expired medication, just reviewing the arbitrary way the dates are set. But after a brief burst of attention, the response to their study faded. That raises an even bigger question: If some drugs remain effective well beyond the date on their labels, why hasn't there been a push to extend their expiration dates?
It turns out that the FDA, the agency that helps set the dates, has long known the shelf life of some drugs can be extended, sometimes by years. For decades, the federal government has stockpiled massive stashes of medication, antidotes and vaccines in secure locations throughout the country. The drugs are worth tens of billions of dollars and would provide a first line of defense in case of a large-scale emergency. Maintaining these stockpiles is expensive. The drugs have to be kept secure and at the proper humidity and temperature so they don't degrade.
Luckily, the country has rarely needed to tap into many of the drugs, but this means they often reach their expiration dates. Though the government requires pharmacies to throw away expired drugs, it doesn't always follow these instructions itself. Instead, for more than 30 years, it has pulled some medicines and tested their quality. The idea that drugs expire on specified dates goes back at least a half-century, when the FDA began requiring manufacturers to add this information to the label.
The time limits allow the agency to ensure medications work safely and effectively for patients. To determine a new drug's shelf life, its maker zaps it with intense heat and soaks it with moisture to see how it degrades under stress. It also checks how it breaks down over time. The drug company then proposes an expiration date to the FDA, which reviews the data to ensure they support the date and then approves it. Despite the difference in drugs' makeup, most "expire" after two or three years.
Once a drug is launched, the makers run tests to ensure it continues to be effective up to its labeled expiration date. Since they are not required to check beyond it, most don't, largely because regulations make it expensive and time-consuming for manufacturers to extend expiration dates, says Yan Wu, an analytical chemist who is part of a focus group at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists that looks at the long-term stability of drugs.
Most companies, she said, would rather sell new drugs and develop additional products. Pharmacists and researchers say there is no economic "win" for drug companies to investigate further.
They ring up more sales when medications are tossed as "expired" by hospitals, retail pharmacies and consumers despite retaining their safety and effectiveness. Industry officials say patient safety is their highest priority. Olivia Shopshear, director of science and regulatory advocacy for the drug industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, says expiration dates are chosen "based on the period of time when any given lot will maintain its identity, potency and purity, which translates into safety for the patient.
That being said, it's an open secret among medical professionals that many drugs maintain their ability to combat ailments well after their labels say they don't. One pharmacist says he sometimes takes home expired over-the-counter medicine from his pharmacy so he and his family can use it. The federal agencies that stockpile drugs — including the military, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.
Department of Veterans Affairs — have long realized the savings in revisiting expiration dates. Inthe Air Force, hoping to save on replacement costs, asked the FDA if certain drugs' expiration dates could be extended. Each year, drugs from the stockpiles are selected based on their value and pending expiration, and analyzed in batches to determine whether their end dates could be safely extended.
For several decades, the program has found that the actual shelf life of many drugs is well beyond the original expiration dates. A study of drugs tested by the program showed that two-thirds of the expired medications were stable every time a lot was tested.
Each of them had their expiration dates extended, on average, by more than four years, according to research published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Some that failed to hold their potency include the common asthma inhalant albuterol, the topical rash spray diphenhydramine, and a local anesthetic made from lidocaine and epinephrine, the study said. But neither Cantrell nor Dr. Cathleen Clancy, associate medical director of National Capital Poison Center, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the George Washington University Medical Center, had heard of anyone being harmed by any expired drugs.
Cantrell says there has been no recorded instance of such harm in medical literature. Marc Young, a pharmacist who helped run the extension program from tosays it has had a "ridiculous" return on investment. Hussain is now president of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, an organization of 17 universities working to reduce the cost of pharmaceutical development.
He says the high price of drugs and shortages make it time to re-examine drug expiration dates in the commercial market. The pharmacy at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Some medical providers have pushed for a changed approach to drug expiration dates — with no success.
Inthe American Medical Association, foretelling the current prescription drug crisis, adopted a resolution urging action. The shelf life of many drugs, it wrote, seems to be "considerably longer" than their expiration dates, leading to "unnecessary waste, higher pharmaceutical costs, and possibly reduced access to necessary drugs for some patients.
Pharmacopeial Convention, which sets standards for drugs, and PhRMA asking for a re-examination of expiration dates. I think there's considerable waste. On a recent weekday, Berkowitz sorted through bins and boxes of medication in a back hallway of the hospital's pharmacy, peering at expiration dates. As the pharmacy's assistant director, he carefully manages how the facility orders and dispenses drugs to patients.
Running a pharmacy is like working in a restaurant because everything is perishable, he says, "but without the free food. David Berkowitz, assistant director of clinical pharmacy at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, says that the hospital has to throw out many drugs that are probably safe to use.
Federal and state laws prohibit pharmacists from dispensing expired drugs, and The Joint Commission, which accredits thousands of health care organizations, requires facilities to remove expired medication from their supply. So at Newton-Wellesley, outdated drugs are shunted to shelves in the back of the pharmacy and marked with a sign that says: "Do Not Dispense.
And then the bins fill again. One of the plastic boxes is piled with EpiPens — devices that automatically inject epinephrine to treat severe allergic reactions. These are from emergency kits that are rarely used, which means they often expire.
Berkowitz counts them, tossing each one with a clatter into a separate container: " The devices had been donated by consumers, which meant they could have been stored in conditions that would cause them to break down, like a car's glove box or a steamy bathroom. The EpiPens also contain liquid medicine, which tends to be less stable than solid medications.
Testing showed 24 of the 40 expired devices contained at least 90 percent of their stated amount of epinephrine, enough to be considered as potent as when they were made.
All of them contained at least 80 percent of their labeled concentration of medication. The takeaway? Even EpiPens stored in less than ideal conditions may last longer than their labels say they do, and if there's no other option, an expired EpiPen may be better than nothing, Cantrell says.
At Newton-Wellesley, Berkowitz keeps a spreadsheet of every outdated drug he throws away. The pharmacy sends what it can back for credit, but it doesn't come close to replacing what the hospital paid. Then there's the added angst of tossing drugs that are in short supply. Berkowitz picks up a box of sodium bicarbonate, which is crucial for heart surgery and to treat certain overdoses. It's being rationed because there's so little available. He holds up a purple box of atropine, which gives patients a boost when they have low heart rates.
It's also in short supply. In the federal government's stockpile, the expiration dates of both drugs have been extended, but they have to be thrown away by Berkowitz and other hospital pharmacists.
localhost › drugs. › drg Throw away any unused Prednisone Intensol™ solution 90 days after the bottle is opened for the first time. Precautions. If you will be taking. Do medication expiration dates mean anything? Some medications are less effective after they expire but may be safe to use, while others can. Throw away any unused Prednisone Intensol™ solution 90 days after the bottle is opened for the first time. Precautions. If you will be taking. From what I've read, tetracycline based antibiotics are one of the few exceptions due to the toxicity they develop. So although Prednisone is listed as having. It's being rationed because there's so little available. Erik Jacobs for Propublica hide caption. Legal Conditions and Terms Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. Oral liquid antibiotics Bacterial infections Can become contaminated with bacteria after their expiration date. The exception to this is prescriptions for controlled substances, which may not be valid after 6 months or less, depending on state laws. The devices had been donated by consumers, which meant they could have been stored in conditions that would cause them to break down, like a car's glove box or a steamy bathroom.By Carolyn Crist. In some parts of the world, doctors face the difficulty of getting medicine more than once a year. The study team tested the stability of five expired drugs that had been returned from the British Antarctic Survey, which operates five bases and two ships in the Antarctic region and has on-site medical and dental facilities.
Drugs for the Antarctic operation are ordered annually in May and shipped from the UK in September, arriving at the bases in December after spending several months at sea, the researchers note. They tested five types of drug, all one to four years past expiration, and compared these to fresh samples of the same medications to see if the expired versions were chemically stable and retained their active ingredient. The drugs included atropine, which is used to treat certain types of pesticide or nerve agent poisonings; nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker that relaxes the heart and blood vessels in cases of high blood pressure and chest pain; flucloxacillin, an antibiotic in the penicillin family; bendroflumethiazide, a diuretic used to treat hypertension; and naproxen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory NSAID painkiller.
Researchers found that all of the tested drugs were stable, and would, theoretically, have still been effective. The researchers caution that their results are limited by the fact that they did not know the exact temperature exposures the returned drugs had experienced. If left in a car in hot summers in Arizona, California or other hot spots, some drugs could degrade more quickly, she noted.
By Carolyn Crist 5 Min Read.
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